Truck Rear Ends
Car
Inelastic
Collision
A GIF Animation
Collisions between objects are governed by laws of momentum and
energy. When a collision occurs in an isolated system, the total
momentum of the system of objects is conserved. Provided that there
are no net external forces acting upon the objects, the momentum of
all objects before the collision equals the momentum of all objects
after the collision. If there are only two objects involved in the
collision, then the momentum lost by one object equals the momentum
gained by the other object.
Certain collisions are referred to as elastic collisions. Elastic
collisions are collisions in which both momentum and kinetic energy
are conserved. The total system kinetic energy before the collision
equals the total system kinetic energy after the collision. If total
kinetic energy is not conserved, then the collision is referred to as
an inelastic collision.
The animation below portrays the
inelastic
collision between a 3000-kg truck and a 1000-kg car. The
before- and after-collision velocities and momentum are shown in the
data tables.
In the collision between the truck and the car, total system
momentum is conserved. Before the collision, the momentum of the
truck is 60 000 kg*m/s and the momentum of the car is 0 kg*m/s; the
total system momentum is 60 000 kg*m/s. After the collision, the
momentum of the truck is 45 000 kg*m/s and the momentum of the car is
15 000 kg*m/s; the total system momentum is 60 000 kg*m/s. The total
system momentum is conserved. The momentum lost by the truck (15 000
kg*m/s) is gained by the car.
An analysis of the kinetic energy of the two objects reveals that
the total system kinetic energy before the collision is 600 000
Joules (600 000 J for the truck plus 0 J for the car). After the
collision, the total system kinetic energy is 450 000 Joules (337 500
J for the truck and 112 500 J for the car). The total kinetic energy
before the collision is not equal to the total kinetic energy
after the collision. A portion of the kinetic energy is converted to
other forms of energy such as sound energy and thermal energy. A
collision in which total system kinetic energy is not
conserved is known as an inelastic collision.
For more information on physical descriptions of motion,
visit
The
Physics Classroom. Specific information is available there on the
following topics:
This page was created by
Tom
Henderson of
Glenbrook South
High School.
Comments and suggestions can be sent by e-mail to
Tom
Henderson.
A hearty thanks is due to lab assistant Bryce Mautner for her
assistance with the graphics and GIF animation.
This page last updated on 3/26/97.